Many comestibles need to be washed prior to serving to remove undesired sand, grit, etc. Typical are salad greens, and the present invention will be described in connection therewith, although it should be understood that it may also be used with a variety of fruits and vegetables, either whole, sliced or diced. Washing of salad greens is usually done by rinsing the greens with running water. After washing, it is usually necessary to remove the excess water remaining on the surface of the greens. The retained water is difficult to remove, being held tenaciously on the surface of the greens. Various means are employed to remove the adhering water, including manually shaking the greens, or placing the greens on absorbent paper or cloth to remove the liquid by capillary action. Both methods of removal have shortcomings; shaking the greens tends to broadcast water in all directions, and absorbing the water is time consuming and requires substantial counter space and a large amount of absorbent paper or cloth.
Another situation in which it is desirable to remove excess liquid from salad greens is after dressing has been added to the greens. Frequently, an amount of dressing is added in excess of that necessary in the finished salad, in order to ensure that the dressing will coat most of the greens. In such instances, it is desirable to remove the excess liquid to avoid oversaturation and unsightliness due to the excess liquid. The same difficulties are encountered in removing the excess liquid as already described.